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When The Wind Blows (PG) + ScreenTalk

Animation at War

,Cinema 3

A haunting classic of British animation that dramatises the worst fears of the Cold War era’s nuclear anxiety, told through the misfortunes of an ill-prepared elderly couple.

Jimmy T Murakami’s adaptation of Raymond Briggs’s harrowing graphic novel stands as a classic of British animation. 

Bringing to life an empathetic portrayal of the innocence and ignorance of everyday people in the face of the devastation of nuclear war; Briggs was inspired by his own parents and their generation's implicit trust of government and public information, such as the Protect and Survive campaign. Gut-wrenchingly emotional, it explores how the 'Blitz spirit' doesn't count for much against weapons of mass destruction.

It uses a hybrid style spanning hand-drawn illustration, newsreel footage, grotesque satirical cartoons, and tangible stop-motion settings. But unlike their first collaboration – the festive favourite The Snowman – When the Wind Blows was a pointed broadside aimed squarely at the superpowers behind the Cold War. 

Tagged with: Cinema Animation at War ScreenTalks

UK 1986 dir Jimmy T. Murakami 

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Biography

Michael Leader is a writer, curator and co-creator of the animation-focused podcast series Ghibliotheque. He is co-author of the books Ghibliotheque: The Unofficial Guide to the Movies of Studio Ghibli, The Ghibliotheque Anime Movie Guide, Film Korea and Ghibliverse: Studio Ghibli Beyond the Films. His writing on film has appeared in the pages of Sight and Sound and Little White Lies magazines, and from 2019 to 2022, he was Series Producer and Commissioning Editor of the BBC iPlayer short-form documentary series Inside Cinema and Inside Games.

Cinema 3